University employees commended by Revival Foundation for cultural heritage studies

An award ceremony for those Bolgar and Sviyazhsk projects was held on Friday, 1^st February.

Among the participating officials were Minister of Culture of Russia Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Minister of Enlightenment of Russia Pavel Zenkovich, President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, State Counsellor of Tatarstan, Chairman of the Revival Foundation Mintimer Shaimiev.

As for KFU awardees, Professor Rafael Valeev received the title of the Distinguished Scientist of the Republic of Tatarstan, and Professor Ayrat Sitdikov got a letter of appreciation from the President of Tatarstan.

Speaking about results, Mr. Shaimiev noted that in the nine years since the projects started, many historical monuments have been restored or reconstructed, infrastructure has been renovated, and spiritual traditions have been renewed.

Kazan University’s expertise has been instrumental in the project and helped induct the Sviyazhsk Assumption Cathedral and Monastery into the UNESCO World Heritage List. Importantly, many items from museum and library collections were donated by KFU to museums in Bolgar and Sviyazhsk.

Source text: Rufina Gimaletdinova

Photos: Inna Basyrova

Translation: Yury Nurmeev